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Pro-EU centrist Nicuşor Dan was on course to become Romania’s president on Sunday, according to exit polls, leading a run-off against an ultranationalist Eurosceptic who had topped the first round and raised fears about the country’s pro-western orientation.
Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and mayor of the capital Bucharest, was set to win with more than 54 per cent of the vote compared with around 45 per cent for George Simion, a former football hooligan turned leader of the far-right AUR party, according to pollsters CURS and Avangarde.
“Elections are not about politicians, they are about communities. And the community that won today wants profound changes,” Dan said to cheering crowds. He acknowledged the anger of the “community who lost”, promising reforms to fight corruption and improve the rule of law.
“It is our task to fight for one Romania, not two.”
A massive turnout seems to have tipped the balance in favour of Dan, who had received just 21 per cent of the votes cast in the first round, nearly half of Simion’s total. Romanians mobilised to prevent what many saw as the threat of their country turning its back on Nato, the EU and Ukraine.
Analysts warned that the exit polls do not take into account the more than 1.6mn voters abroad who cast their ballots. In the first round, Simion won nearly 600,000 diaspora votes, while Dan secured 250,000.
Simion soared to pole position on the back of voter anger at authorities annulling the presidential election last year due to alleged Russian interference in favour of another ultranationalist candidate, Călin Georgescu, who had surprisingly topped the first round vote in November.
Georgescu was barred from running again but endorsed Simion, who said he would make Georgescu prime minister if he won.
The cancelled vote and Simion’s first-round win triggered a political and economic crisis, with the prime minister resigning, the leu currency’s value nosediving and the country struggling to raise debt on international markets.
Romania has the highest budget deficit in the EU and is just one notch above junk status according to all the major rating agencies. Analysts have warned of difficult times ahead for the next president who will have to appoint a new prime minister to oversee quick reforms and avoid losing investor-grade status and access to EU funds.
This is a developing story
